A week after the GDL train drivers union open-ended strike was unexpectedly called off, the large rail union EVG (Eisenbahn- und Verkersgewerkschaft) together with management at Deutsche Bahn (DB) announced on Wednesday May 27 that they had reached agreement over a new collective agreement that includes a two stage 5.1% pay rise and several measures relating to extra hours and working time saving accounts as well as measures to prepare the company for the digitalization of rail sector work. For the first time since 2007, these measures also apply to non-GDL affiliated train drivers. The agreement runs until September 2016 and puts the GDL under. The EVG has succeeded in achieving certain results that go beyond those demanded by the GDL and that without any strike action at all. On the GDL side, yesterday, three weeks of mediation talks with DB management started that are intended to diffuse tensions in a rail sector that has been in conflict for almost a year, although a definite return to peace is not yet a given.
A good deal for workers. Although not necessarily to the Head of Personnel at Deutsche Bahn, M. Ulrich Weber’s liking, without a doubt the 9 strikes by train drivers over the last year have definitely had a positive influence (from a workers standpoint) on the agreement that was presented by negotiators from Deutsche Bahn and EVG yesterday. No mention was made of the action and U. Weber simply stated, “Yes these negotiations have been tough. They have been long. They have been complicated, and
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